Government should uphold the principles of the prohibition of torture by taking all the necessary measures in eliminating torture. • The imposition of the death penalty in the country per se will not amount to torture under the CAT. Hence, it should not be seen as a hindrance in acceding to the Convention. • In order to demonstrate disapproval against torture, the Government must remove the reservation to the articles that prohibit torture under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (article 37) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (article 15). • The Government must look into alternative punishments that do not amount to torture as defined under the Convention. For example, whipping as a form of punishment for adults should be replaced by community service. • The accession to the CAT should not be seen as a burden to Malaysia; rather the adherence to the Convention will benefit the Government as well as the people in the country. • Malaysia should not consider itself ready to accede to the CAT only when the laws and policies seem to be in compliance with the Convention, because the accession should be the basis of gradual changes and improvements and realistically there is no state party that is in total adherence to the CAT. • The Government should review the effectiveness of corporal punishment, coerced interrogations, and other forms of measures that amount to torture under the Convention in deterring crimes as well in getting information. • In considering the accession to the CAT, it is not necessary for the Government to seek public consensus or views, just as it had not done so in relation to many other issues of public concerns in the past. • The laws that are to replace the Internal Security Act (ISA) must uphold the principle of prohibition of torture. • The Commission, through amendments to the SUHAKAM Act, should be allowed to visit prisons and detention centres without prior notice. 13